South African broadband provider Vumatel has announced plans to expand its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network, which offers maximum download speeds of 1Gbps, to the Johannesburg suburbs of Killarney and Riviera. The rollout of the fibre network is scheduled to start before the end of March 2015, Vumatel said. The company, which offers fibre on an open-access basis, switched on a FTTH network in Parkhurst in October 2014 and is currently deploying its fibre-optic infrastructure in Greenside and Parktown North. The open access model allows customers to choose from multi-play service providers including MWEB, Web Africa, Smart Village, Cool Ideas, Cybersmart and Vox Telecom, its first service-provider partner in Parkhurst. Opening picture is of Vumatel CEO Niel Schoeman
As previously noted by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, Vumatel is aiming to deploy fibre-optic broadband to roughly 200,000 homes in around 100 suburbs/locations across South Africa over the next three to four years, at an estimated cost of ZAR2 billion-ZAR3 billion (USD186 million-USD279 million). In September 2014 Vumatel identified the 42 suburbs it aims to connect next, including Atholl, Beverley, Blairgowrie, Douglasdale, Emmarentia, Forest Town, Fourways, Gallo Manor, Greenside and Houghton Estate, to name a few.
South Africa,Vumatel, Broadband
